Brock Lesnar Receives USADA Exemption to Compete at UFC 200

After deciding to come out of a retirement that lasted more than
four years, Brock
Lesnar will have approximately one month to prepare for
Mark
Hunt at UFC
200.

According to normal UFC Anti-Doping Policy standards, Lesnar would
have been required to provide significantly more notice regarding
his return. According to
paragraph 5.7.1 of the policy, a fighter coming out of
retirement may not compete “until he/she has given UFC written
notice of his/her intent to resume competing and has made
him/herself available for Testing for a period of four months
before returning to competition.”

According to the UFC, Lesnar signed his UFC 200 bout agreement last
Friday, just one day before the blockbuster announcement that
occurred during the
UFC 199 pay-per-view broadcast. However, there is a loophole in
the policy that would allow the former heavyweight champion to
fight despite not having provided that notice. Lesnar has not
fought since UFC 141 on Dec. 30, 2011, when he suffered a technical
knockout loss to Alistair
Overeem.

“UFC may grant an exemption to the four-month written notice rule
in exceptional circumstances or where the strict application of
that rule would be manifestly unfair to an Athlete,” the policy
states.

The Las Vegas-based promotion released a statement on Tuesday
confirming a decision to exercise that exemption:

“On June 6, 2016, UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar was registered by
USADA into the UFC Anti-Doping Policy testing pool. As part of the
UFC Anti-Doping Policy, UFC may grant a former athlete an exemption
to the four-month written notice rules in exceptional circumstances
or where the strict application of that rule would be manifestly
unfair to an athlete. Given Lesnar last competed in UFC on December
30, 2011, long before the UFC Anti-Doping Policy went into effect,
for purposes of the Anti-Doping Policy, he is being treated
similarly to a new athlete coming into the organization.

“While conversations with the heavyweight have been ongoing for
some time, Lesnar required permission from WWE to compete in UFC
200 and only agreed to terms and signed a bout agreement last
Friday. He was therefore unable to officially start the Anti-Doping
Policy process any earlier. UFC, however, did notify Lesnar in the
early stages of discussions that if he were to sign with the UFC,
he would be subject to all of the anti-doping rules. Lesnar and his
management have now been formally educated by USADA on the policy,
procedures and expectations.”

Lesnar currently remains under contract with World Wrestling
Entertainment and thus far has only been granted a one-off
opportunity to fight at UFC 200 before he is expected to return to
the wrestling ring for SummerSlam on Aug. 21. While it is unclear
if he could have any future designs on fighting in the UFC after
July 9, Lesnar will now be subject to in- and out-of-competition
drug testing.

UFC 200 takes place at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas and is headlined
by a light heavyweight championship rematch between Daniel
Cormier and Jon Jones.
Lesnar versus Hunt will serve as the evening’s co-main event.